NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 4/9/2017
Here are Sunday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league, as the NBADL postseason continues:
- The Rockets have recalled Chinanu Onuaku and Isaiah Taylor from the Rio Grand Valley Vipers, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Both players were sent to Houston’s D-League affiliate on Saturday for the team’s tilt against the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Hoops Links: Joseph, Lowry, Lillard
On Sundays, we link to some of the very best work from around the basketball blogosphere. Do you have a link to a great basketball blog post – either your own or someone else’s – that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to us at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s rundown:
- Brian Boake of Raptors Rapture takes a look at Toronto’s cap situation and believes the team needs to shed salary this offseason in order to re-sign its own free agents. Boake believes Cory Joseph is expendable and Denver would be a good place to send the point guard.
- The Jump Ball discusses the Clippers, Sam Hinkie and the league’s awards in its latest podcast.
- South of the 6ixth talks Kyle Lowry‘s return and playoff seeding in its latest podcast.
- RealGM passes along notes from the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit.
- SLC Dunk examined how Damian Lillard‘s recent 59 point game stacks up against previous Jazz opponents.
Cavaliers Waive DeAndre Liggins
Cleveland has waived DeAndre Liggins, according to the team’s website. The Cavs’ roster now sits at 14 players.
If another team claims Liggins off waivers, it would save the Cavs approximately $2.5MM in luxury tax payments, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter links). If that happens, each of the 28 teams below the tax line would receive roughly $44K less from the tax distribution than they would if Liggins went unclaimed. Marks notes that each of the 28 franchises is currently slated to receive $552K from the distribution.
The team plans on adding another player, though it hasn’t made a decision on who it will be, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic tweets. They must sign someone by Wednesday for the player to be playoff-eligible.
Liggins played in 61 games this season, starting 19 of them. He saw 12.3 minutes per contest and averaged 2.4 points per game.
Eastern Notes: Pistons, Raptors, Rondo
The Pistons are all but eliminated from playoff contention and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy plans on using the last few games to evaluate the team, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. “We’ll try to get to 10 guys a night,” Van Gundy said.
He added that he’s seen enough out of Aron Baynes, who’s been playing well lately. “We may occasionally give one of our guys who’ve been in the rotation a rest, but not all of ’em at the same time. The guy who will be affected the most – doesn’t mean he won’t play – is a guy who’s been playing really well, Baynes,” SVG said.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Raptors believes Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker have helped to alter the identity of the team, Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. “They gave us physical toughness,” coach Dwane Casey said, “that we haven’t had.”
- Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo is day-to-day with a sprained wrist, Sam Smith of NBA.com relays. Rondo won’t play tonight against the Sixers.
- John Henson is expected to return to the lineup over the last two games of the regular season, Sirius XM Radio passes along via Twitter. The big man has missed the last eight games for the Bucks with a thumb injury.
Western Notes: Galloway, Carraro, Mavs, Gasol
Langston Galloway came to the Kings in the DeMarcus Cousins trade and didn’t get much playing time initially, but he’s finding the court now as the team begins to rest its veterans. Coach Dave Joerger credits the point guard for staying ready even though he wasn’t receiving consistent minutes, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee relays.
“I think he has a survivor mindset. … That mindset that, ‘you know what, when I get my opportunity I’m going to be ready’ and he’s done that,” Joerger said. “He’s practiced hard, he’s worked hard and he’s been ready, keeping himself ready for whatever minutes may come.”
Galloway is making $5.2MM this season and he can become a free agent during the summer if he turns down his $5.434MM player option for the 2017/18 campaign.
Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- Lakers assistant GM Glenn Carraro has resigned, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Carraro has been with Los Angeles since 2000.
- It would be shocking if the Mavericks don’t select a point guard in the upcoming draft, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes. Dallas currently owns the ninth spot in our Reverse Standings and there should be several point guard prospects worthy of being selected at the top of the draft.
- Offseason addition Pau Gasol added the 3-pointer to his game and Jeff McDonald of the Express News notes that the big man has made over 54% of his attempts from downtown. That figure, which isn’t likely to decrease severely over the next few games, is by far the best percentage for a 7-footer in NBA history. Gasol has fit in well since coming to the Spurs and he has one more season on his contract after this one.
Kevin Durant On Track To Return On Saturday
APRIL 6, 12:59pm: Durant will play in Saturday’s game against New Orleans, barring any setbacks, the Warriors announced today (via Twitter).
APRIL 3, 4:18pm: The Warriors are targeting this Saturday’s contest with the Pelicans for Kevin Durant‘s return, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It was previously reported that the team was optimistic about a return before the end of the regular season.
The 2013/14 MVP has begun to play in 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 contact situations, Stein adds in a full-length piece. Coach Steve Kerr said Durant will be in the starting lineup when he is ready to play.
“Hopefully we can get him in for a couple of regular-season games,” Kerr said on Sunday.“We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see what the training staff says. I’m not too worried about incorporating him because he’s been with us all season and fit right in from the beginning. So whenever he gets back, we’ll plug him back in there and watch his minutes.”
If Durant is able to return for Saturday’s game, that would give him the potential to play in three games before the postseason begins.
Knicks Notes: Rose, Hornacek, Ewing
As we learned earlier today, Derrick Rose underwent an “uncomplicated” left knee arthroscopy to handle his meniscus tear. He’s expected to resume basketball activities in roughly three to six weeks. Here’s more on the 2010/11 MVP as well as notes on his current team:
- The Knicks have left the door open on Rose returning to the team, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.“Derrick did a lot of good things for us this year, with the way he can break down the defense,” coach Jeff Hornacek. “We’ll take a look at it and see if we can bring him back.’’
- Mike Vorkunov of The New York Times isn’t optimistic about Rose’s future with the Knicks. The scribe believes the franchise should be able to replace Rose with a prospect through the draft.
- Patrick Ewing recently agreed to become Georgetown’s head coach, but that may be the first stop on his way to becoming the coach of the Knicks, Berman writes in a separate piece. A source tells Berman that Ewing’s relationship with Knicks owner James Dolan is “fully repaired.”
- Berman notes (same piece) that Ewing had a chance to interview with the school 13 years ago. The Hall of Famer previously said that he didn’t “want to go back to college.”
- Rose’s injury is likely to limit his options in free agency, George Willis of the New York Post argues. If Rose hadn’t suffered his latest ailment, Willis believes he would have had several multiyear offers from teams around the league. As it stands, the former MVP may have to settle for a one-year deal.
Draft Notes: Simmons, Fultz, Fox, Evans
Kobi Simmons has declared for the draft and won’t return to Arizona, according to journalist Adam Zagoria (Twitter link).
“Kobi Simmons, with the support of his family, has decided to declare for the 2017 NBA Draft,” Wildcats coach Sean Miller said. “All of us here at Arizona thank him for his freshman season and wish him continued success as he pursues his professional career.”
The 6’5″ guard hired Aaron Turner of Verus Team Management to be his agent, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets. Goodman adds that Simmons will work out for teams as a point guard. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express has Simmons as the 67th best prospect in the draft.
Here’s more on the upcoming draft:
- Markelle Fultz, who attended Tuesday’s Sixers game, wouldn’t mind playing for Philadelphia, Jordan Hall of Comcast Sportsnet relays. “I think it would be a great atmosphere, so it would be cool,” Fultz said of playing home games at the Sixers’ home arena. The former Washington guard, who said he believes he’ll be the first player to come off the board in June, added: “I always trust the process.”
- De’Aaron Fox has chosen an agent. He’ll be represented by Happy Walters of Catalyst Sports, Givony reports (Twitter link).
- Jawun Evans will be represented by ASM Sports, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks the Oklahoma State product 37th among this year’s prospect.
- ASM has also signed Xavier’s Edmond Sumner and Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame, Daniels reports (Twitter link).
- Fred Sims of Chicago State has declared for the draft, Goodman reports (Twitter link). Sims is currently not ranked by Draft Express.
Nuggets Notes: Mudiay, Hibbert, Roberson
The Nuggets like what they see out of Emmanuel Mudiay since he’s re-entered the rotation, Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post writes. “He’s worked very hard since he’s been taken out of that rotation. He has a lot of confidence and he should. He’s played good basketball for us at times,” coach Mike Malone said. Mudiay, who was the No.7 overall pick in the 2015 draft, was rumored to be available at the trade deadline.
In a separate piece, Kosmider answers numerous questions about the Nuggets’ future. Here are the highlights from that piece:
- Kosmider explains why the Nuggets traded for Roy Hibbert. Denver was under the salary floor and Hibbert’s $5MM deal moved the team closer to it. The scribe adds that if the franchise somehow makes the playoffs, Hibbert could be useful in certain situations.
- The Nuggets’ biggest needs are perimeter defense and rim protection, Kosmider writes. The scribe believes Andre Roberson, who will be a restricted free agent, could be a player to watch.
- While Portland appears to have won the Jusuf Nurkic–Mason Plumlee swap, it doesn’t mean the Nuggets made a bad trade, Kosmider argues. Nurkic wouldn’t have started with Nikola Jokic on the team and he wouldn’t have been happy coming off the bench. Plumlee is more a facilitator and he’s better suited to run with the second unit.
- Denver won’t move veterans for the sake of opening up playing time for its younger players, Kosmider cautions. The Nuggets will enter next season expecting to make the playoffs, though they are expected to listen to offers on their older players this summer.
Justin Patton To Enter Draft
Creighton’s Justin Patton will enter the 2017 draft and hire an agent, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Patton has signed with ASM Sports, Evan Daniels of Scouts.com tweets.
Wojnarowski hears from multiple NBA executives that Patton could be a top-10 pick. He’s the 17th best prospect according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him as 18th.
Ford calls Patton a “major work in progress” in his latest mock draft. He has the Blazers nabbing the freshman with the No.18 overall pick.
Patton averaged 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. The big man sported a 25.3 player efficiency rating.